The Guardian
by Thatweirdguyyouknow
Summary: A human warrior who has fallen from grace finds a new purpose in defending a village of pokemon and love for a Delphox. Rated M for violent content, adult themes, and the possibility of a lemon in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**The Guardian**

**Hi this is the first story I have ever written I just got an urge to try my hand at writing fanfiction recently. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and don't be afraid to review constructive criticism is always welcome. I do not own pokemon but I do own the ocs in this story. P.S this isn't your standard pokemon setting this is a sort of a Tolkien style fantasy setting with more Oriental influence in the weapons and world.**

**Chapter 1: A Mysterious Savior.**

We see a young man sitting by a small bonfire in a clearing in the middle of a forest, the man is about six foot one with long raven hair braided into a ponytail that reaches halfway down his back, he has a strong looking face with cleft chin, large jaw, and high cheek bones, but his most striking feature is his eyes they are a vibrant shade of green and have very melancholy look to them.

He is wearing a black sleeveless chiqong (a sort of kung fu uniform) with matching black pants and a silver sash tied around his waist. He has two dao broadswords strapped to his back and burlap sack carying his few belongings is on forest floor a few feet from him.

There was suddenly a loud a high pitch scream as if from a child, the man got up snuffed out his bonfire and began to walk towards in the direction of the sound.

After walking for few minutes he came upon quite the interesting scene in front of him was a small group of slavers who had just captured young looking Braxien.

The man stepped out of the bushes that were concealing him and made his presence known to the slavers.

The slavers stood up and drew their swords the man looked about the camp and saw that there was a total of five slavers "release this pokemon drop your weapons and swear that you will never deal in the slave trade again and I will let you live but if you continue on the course of action you follow I will have to take your lives" said the man.

The slavers chuckled at this and one of them walked up to the man raised his left hand to push him over but before the slaver's hand could touch him the man drew his swords and severed the bandits arm at the elbow before using his other sword to slit the slaver's throat.

The four remaining bandits where shocked by this display but quickly regained their wits and began to circle their new enemy.

One slaver tried to rush in and stab man with his sword this proved to be the slavers last mistake as the man easily sidestepped his predictable attack and countered by slashing the slaver's belly causing him to fall to the ground in pain and shortly thereafter die.

Then two slavers tried attacking at once one head on and another from behind, the man used one sword to parry the slaver in front of him and the other to parry the one behind, he followed up by straight kicking the man in front of him in the chest knocking him to the ground and then spinning to face the other man who he quickly stabbed through the heart. The man then turned and slammed both of his swords down on the other slaver killing him before he could get to his feet.

The last slaver was terrified now so instead of trying to fight the man who had just killed his four comrades he dropped his weapon and ran quicker than he had ever run in his life.

The man cleaned his blades on a patch of nearby grass before sheathing them on his back. He approached the bound Braxien and kneeled down to untie him.

The Braxien tried to move away from the man in fear but could little more shuffle inch by inch on his back do to his restraints.

"Be calm little one I desire only to free you from your bonds" said the man.

The Braxien calmed slightly at hearing the man's words and aloud the man to untie him.

"t-thank you sir" said the young Braxien who the man could now tell was a boy from his voice.

"There is no need to thank me young one but you are welcome"? said the man. "What is your name"? Asked the man.

"My name is Joshua". Responded the Braxien.

"And my name is Alexander". Said the man. "Are you far from your home Joshua"? Asked Alexander.

"No not too far". Said replied Joshua.

"Good your route home should be safe" Stated Alexander as he stood up and began to walk back to his camp.

"W-wait". Said Joshua causing Alexander to turn back and face him.

"Is something wrong"? Asked Alexander.

"No it's just…. You should come back with me my family would want to reward you". Said Joshua.

"I desire no reward for my actions but if you wish for me to come with you I shall". Said Alexander.

"Ok follow me then". Said Joshua happily as he began to walk in the direction of his home.

End of Chapter: 1.

**Well that's it for chapter 1 but I should probably explain a few things, 1 the braxien is not the love interest in this story we will meet her in the next chapter, 2 in this story any human like pokemon can talk but the more animal like pokemon can't, and 3 the reason that the slavers had captured the Braxien is because most city states in this story have the human like pokemon as slaves or lower class citizens. Well that's enough explaining for one chapter so please leave a review and follow this story if you're interested. Once again I do not own the pokemon frachise. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again and welcome to chapter two of the Guardian. I do not own the Pokémon franchise.**

**Chapter 2: A Stranger in a strange land.**

Alexander had been following Joshua for almost two hours when he began to see a village in the distance. The village seemed to be a small self-sustaining farming community with many fields of various vegetables and grains and even some livestock in pens.

"Is this village your home?" Asked alexander as they continued to walk in its general direction.

"Yep" Said Joshua. "It aint much to look at but its home" He added happily as he began walking backwards in the direction of the village while he looked up at Alexander.

"Hmm" Said Alexander with a distant look in his eyes as if he was remembering something.

"Are you ok?" Asked Joshua his face taking on slightly concerned look.

"I am fine Joshua don't worry about me" Said Alexander though he still had that distant look in his eyes.

"Alright" Said Joshua but he still wasn't convinced.

They were nearly inside the village when a group of Pokémon jumped out from the surrounding bushes and other hiding places some of them armed and all of them looking ready for a fight.

"Joshua who is this human and what are you doing with him?" Asked an angry looking male Delphox.

"Its ok brother he's not like the other humans he's nice" Said Joshua.

"Ha likely story he's probably trying to gain are trust by bringing you back so he can spy on us for the slavers!" Shouted a tall and mean looking Machoke who was griping a large axe clearly designed for chopping wood.

"We should kill him here and now before he can report back to his boss!" Yelled a male Lucario who was holding a broken straight sword.

"No please he saved me from a group of slavers that had captured me!" Pleaded Joshua.

"We should bring him to the elder she'll know what to do with him" Said a calm sounding female Delphox.

"Fine but he has to give us his swords" Said the Male Delphox.

"Do you agree to this human?" Asked the female Delphox.

"Yes I'll give you my swords and talk to your elder but I ask that you treat my blades with care" Said Alexander as he unstrapped his swords from his back and handed them to the female Delphox.

"I'll make sure there kept safe" Said the female Delphox.

"Thank you. Now which of you will take me to your elder?" Said Alexander.

(3 Minutes later in a small hut in the village)

Alexander was escorted to the elder's house a small unremarkable bungalow with rather Spartan furnishings. In the corner sat an old looking Gardevoir. She was sitting at a small table with a cup of tea sitting on it and a book in her hands, Alexander found this rather odd as few Pokémon new how to read due to their relatively low class in most societies.

"Ahh a visitor and a human one at that and I thought my day would be boring" Said the Gardevoir with a chuckle.

"What should we do with him elder?" Asked one of the Pokémon who had brought Alexander to the elder's home.

"Leave him with me for now" Said the elder.

"But elder what if tries to hurt you?" Asked the same Pokémon.

"Wait outside my house if you wish but I don't feel that you need to worry about him he does not seem to mean me harm" Said the elder,

"As you wish elder I will be outside if you need me" Said the Pokémon with a bow as he left.

"I'm terribly sorry about all that, please take a seat" Said the elder as she motioned towards a chair across the table from her.

"It is no trouble" Said Alexander as he sat down in the chair.

"My name is Gwyneth but you may call me Gwen if you prefer, now tell me what is your name?" Said Gwen.

"I am Alexander you can call me Alex for short" Said Alex as he folded his hands over the table.

"Can I offer you a cup of tea Alex?" Asked Gwen with a smile on her face.

"I would not want to trouble you" Said Alex.

"Don't be silly I've already made a pot" Said Gwen as she rose from her seat and poured a cup of tea for Alex. Gwen walked over to Alex and handed him the cup of tea.

"Thank you" Said Alex as he took the tea cup from her.

"You're very welcome Alex" Said Gwen with a smile as she sat back down in her chair. "Now I have to ask you why you have come to our village." Questioned Gwen.

"I saw a Braxien who was being abducted by slavers in the woods I stopped them and he asked me to come to his village with him" Said Alex after taking a sip of his tea.

"That must have been Joshua, I warned him about wandering too far from the village" Said Gwen with a sigh of frustration. "But why then were you brought to me by armed escort?" Asked Gwen with a curious look.

"Many of the Pokémon believe that my rescue of Joshua was ruse in order that I could spy on your village" Stated Alex.

"That is unfortunate I had hoped that the people of this village would be more welcoming to outsiders even if they are human" Said Gwen her voice taking on a melancholy tone.

"I do not begrudge them for their lack of trust I would suspect that a village of Pokémon would have many troubles with humans" Said Alex before taking another sip of his tea.

"It is true that many humans seek to enslave us but we must be able to look past a person's race and judge them based on their character not their appearance" Said Gwen with a certain passion on her voice.

"That is a very enlightened point of view it is quite unfortunate that so few people in this world share it" Said Alex with a sad look in his eyes.

"Indeed" Said Gwen. "But enough about that now that you have brought Joshua back to us what will you do?" Asked Gwen.

"I suppose I will return to my camp in the woods" Said Alex with a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders.

"Do you not have a home to go to?" Asked Gwen with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Not anymore" Alex said blankly.

"Then you will stay in the village, at least until you find a home of your own" Gwen said with a smile on her face.

"I'm not sure that is such a good idea the people here don't trust me and it would be awkward for them" Said Alex.

"I'll make you a deal I will ask the village for volunteers to house you if no one offers you can leave but if someone does volunteer you have to stay for at least a month" Said Gwen as she stood up from her chair and put out her hand as if to shake on the agreement.

"Alright" Said Alex as he shook her hand fully believing that no one would volunteer.

"Good, now let's go to the village square so I can make an announcement" Said Gwen as she began to walk out the door and towards the village square Alex following slightly behind her.

They walked into the village square were there was a slightly elevated platform built for people to make announcements or give speeches from. Gwen walked up onto the platform and called for attention, within a few minutes the whole village was gathered in front of her.

"My apologies for inconveniencing all of you but I have an important request to make" Said Wwen not shouting but loud enough to be heard by everyone in the crowd. "It has come to my attention that the human who has rescued Joshua is without a home to call his own" Said Gwen. "I believe that it would only be polite of us to house him for the month, do I have any volunteers?" Asked Gwen.

There was a long silence only interrupted by hushed whispers amongst the crowd and it looked as if no one was going to volunteer when the female Delphox that Alex had handed his swords to walked to the front of the crowd and spoke. "Our family has a spare room that he may stay in" She said.

"Then it is settled Alex will stay with Mary and her family" Said Gwen genuinely pleased that someone had agreed.

The crowd quickly dispersed after this leaving Alex, Mary, and Gwen alone in the village square. "Thank you for your kindness and hospitality but you don't have to do this if you don't want to" Said Alex with a bow of gratitude towards Mary.

"It is only right of me to give you shelter, If it wasn't for you those slavers would have captured my brother Joshua" Said Mary with a smile.

"I'm sure that you will enjoy your stay in our village" Said Gwen as she pat Alex on the back. "Don't forget to ask me or Mary if you need anything' Said Gwen as she began to walk back to her home.

After Gwen left Mary guided Alex to her home and introduced him to her older brother Derrick and explained to both Derrick and Joshua that Alex would be staying with them. Joshua was very happy to hear this as he had developed a small case of hero worship for Alex but Derrick was visibly upset by this, still he held his tongue and said nothing.

The rest of the day went by rather quietly except for Joshua asking Alex all sorts of questions about how he learned to fight, where he came from, etcetera. These questions were mostly deflected by Alex but one of the questions managed to get an interesting response from Alex when Joshua asked him why he didn't have a home to go to, Alex simply said "Because I wasn't strong enough to defend my one" The stoic tone in Alex's voice was enough to make Joshua cease his questions.

As the day drew to a close Mary showed him to his room that had a bed freshly made for him and bid him a good night. And slowly Alex drifted off to sleep for the night.

**End of Chapter 2**

**Well thanks for reading everyone. The next couple of chapters may be a little lacking in the action department because I want to focus on developing the main characters before I jump back into the main conflict. Please review and follow if you are interested. **


	3. Chapter 3

Hello and welcome to the third chapter of the Guardian. Once again I do not own the Pokémon franchise.

Chapter 3: Running from the past.

Alex was fighting as hard as he could just to stay conscious the buildings around him were all on fire and corpses were strewn about the streets like wood shavings in a carpenter's workshop. Alex walked towards the perpetrator of it all a giant of a man with a tattoo of a dragon coiling around his body it's teeth barred in a vicious snarl atop the man's shaved head. The man stood at an intimidating six foot five inches tall and carried hook swords in either hand. Alex was already horribly wounded with various cuts and bruises to his face and torso, five broken ribs, and a large slash across his belly left there by none other than the man he was currently facing. The man with the dragon tattoo laughed aloud at the spectacle of Alex stumbling towards him.

"You have already failed you fool, you should just lay down and die like a good dog" Said the man as he spun one of his hook swords.

"You bastard I'll kill you!" Alex yelled in rage as he tried for a sloppy horizontal chop at the man's neck.

The man easily blocked Alex's swing by using the hook on one of his swords to pull Alex's sword away unbalancing him in the process causing Alex to fall over.

The man quickly kicked Alex in his already broken ribs causing pain to shoot through his entire body and making him let go of his swords that the man quickly kicked away.

"It's pathetic what passes as a warrior now a days" Said the man with a sinister chuckle. "My raiding party wouldn't even allow someone as weak as you clean are blades" Said the man as he circled Alex's prone form.

The man then stomped on Alex's left hand breaking several fingers and causing Alex to scream in pain. The man walked forward and turned his back on Alex. "How does it feel to know you let your village down hero?" Asked the man not even bothering to face Alex as he spoke.

Slowly Alex started to rise to his feat struggling not to black out do the pain he began to stealthily draw the dagger on his and just as the man turned around to face him he drove it into the man's right eye. The man screamed in pain but managed to push Alex off of him and onto the ground.

"You will suffer for that worm!" Screamed the man who had now removed the dagger from his ruined eye. The man began to advance towards Alex who could no longer find the strength to stand but stopped in his tracks when he heard the stampede of approaching cavalry. "Ha your as good as dead anyways" Said the man as he turned and walked away.

Suddenly Alex awoke bolting upright in his bead and panting. Slowly he remembered where he actually was and began to calm down from his nightmare. Alex ran his hand over the long and wide scar on his belly, a scar that he considered a physical reminder of his failure.

"You're up, good you may be our guest but you still have to work" Said Derrick as he entered Alex's room.

Alex simply looked at him, he may have argued against this invasion of his privacy if he had not just awoken. "What did you have in mind?" Asked Alex as he rose from his bead and began to dress himself.

"You can start by going over too Nelson's lumber yard that no good Machoke owes me three bush cords of fire wood, once you've brought those back we'll see what else there is for you to do" Derrick said before leaving Alex's room and heading outside to start his own work.

Alex walked out of his room and through the house to the front door he was about to leave to try and find the lumber yard when Mary saw him. "Wait I've just made you breakfast" She said.

Alex turned around and faced her "Thank you but you didn't have to do that for me" Said Alex as he walked towards the table and sat down.

"You're my guest I'm not going to let you starve to death" she said with a small smile as she brought Alex a plate with bacon and eggs on it.

"Still, thank you" Said Alex as he took the plate from Mary.

"Don't mention it" said Mary. "Where were you going anyways?" She asked as she sat down at the table with a plate of her own.

"I was going to find the lumber yard so I could get the fire wood that Nelson owes you" Said Alex as he began to eat his breakfast.

"My brother told you to do that didn't he?" Asked Mary a frown forming on her face.

"Yes but its only right that I do my share of work if I'm going to be living here" Said Alex noticing Mary's frown.

"It's not that it's just the fact that he's giving you work that Nelson would usually do himself" Said Mary with a sigh of exasperation.

"And why is he doing that?" Asked Alex who did not sound angry or annoyed despite what Mary had just told him.

"I think he's trying to make things difficult for you so you'll leave" She said looking down. "He doesn't trust you because you're human" She added.

"If he wants me to leave all he had to do was ask" Said Alex.

"Please don't leave just because he wants you to" Said Mary. "Joshua would be horribly upset if you left so soon and it can be dangerous out in the forest, you could get hurt or even die" Said Mary.

"There's no one who would really miss me if I were to die anyways" Said Alex as he finished his breakfast and took his plate to the kitchen sink.

"That's not true Alex, Joshua and I would" She said following him with her own plate.

"You barely know me" Said Alex as he stacked his plate on the small pile of dirty dishes.

"Maybe not but you're a good person and I'd like the chance to get to know you and so would Joshua" Said Mary as she put a hand on Alex's shoulder.

There was a few moments of silence before Alex finally spoke "Maybe" Is all he said. "I should go and get that firewood" Said Alex as he walked away from Mary.

"Ok but think about what I said alright" Said Mary.

Alex said nothing but nodded his head before leaving out the door.

Alex wasn't one to get emotional over things but something about Mary's words had affected him and made him think, he didn't understand why she had said the things she said or why she even cared about him in the first place. Alex couldn't make sense of it so he decided to just focus on the task at hand.

It wasn't long before Alex had found the lumber yard, it was about a forty minute walk from Mary's house and was rather small as far as lumber yards go. There was a small shack on the yard that looked to be the residence of the lumber jack.

Alex went up to the door of shack and knocked. After a short period of time heavy footsteps could be heard from the shack's interior. The door was opened from the inside to reveal the Machoke from the previous day. "I assume that you're Nelson" Said Alex offering his hand in greeting.

Nelson ignored Alex's hand "what do you want human?" He asked in a less than friendly tone.

"Derrick sent me to bring some firewood back to his house" Alex said taking his hand back from the rejected greeting.

"It's over there human" Nelson said with a smirk as he pointed to a rather large pile of firewood that was easily over the three bush cords Alex was told to get.

"Do you have a wheelbarrow?" Asked Alex hoping to make his work somewhat easier.

"Not for humans" Was all Nelson said as he closed the door on Alex.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get any help from the stubborn Machoke Alex simply decided to try and carry the firewood in trips, this proved to be a long and arduous task taking Alex the better half of the day to complete but he never complained or slacked he simply took one load at a time until it was all stored by Mary, and Derricks' house.

Nelson watched from time to time becoming increasingly more impressed with Alex's strength and determination, though he would never had admitted his newfound respect if confronted on it.

By the time Alex was finished with the firewood he was drenched in sweat and every one of his muscles was sore.

"I see you've finished with the firewood" Said Derrick sitting on the porch poorly disguised irritation thick in his voice. "Well dinner is almost ready so I guess that's it for your work today, ha I would have thought a warrior could have done better" He said in a derogatory tone of voice. "That is assuming you are actually a warrior and not just some wannabe with a nice swords" He said with smirk.

Alex didn't show any outward reaction to Derrick's remark choosing to simply ignore the thinly veiled insults and walk into the house.

As soon as Alex entered the dining area he was assaulted in the form of a tackle hug from Joshua the Braixen's small frame hardly even unbalancing the well trained warrior. "Hi Alex how are you?" Asked a happy sounding Joshua looking up at Alex.

"I'm fine Joshua, but why are you so happy to see me?" Asked Alex as he pet the young Braixen on the head.

"Because you're nice, and cool, and tough, and…" Responded Joshua before being silenced by Alex who simply chuckled at the Braixen's praise.

"I'm really not all that cool or tough" He said still smiling in amusement.

"Don't bother him to much Joshua. He just got done with a very hard job" Said Mary who was standing over a stewing pot and stirring its contents.

"Ok" Said Joshua slightly deflated as he walked away.

Alex walked into the kitchen and stood behind Mary. "Do you need any help?" Asked Alex.

"You could set the table" Said Mary looking at him over her shoulder. The bowls and cutlery are over there she said pointing to a pantry to her left.

"Alright" Said Alex as he began to collect the bowls and spoons from the pantry.

"So you actually brought all that firewood here in one day, and with no wheelbarrow?" Asked Mary as she continued to stir the stew.

"It was the task I was given" Alex replied simply as he set the supper table for the four of them.

"I know it's just hard to believe that you didn't just tell my brother to screw off or something, I know I would" She said.

Alex chuckled again. "That wouldn't be a very good way for a guest to treat his hosts" Said Alex in amusement.

"Yeah but giving the hardest job to a guest hoping he'll get fed up and leave isn't exactly a very good way for a host to treat his guest" Replied Mary with frown.

"Hey don't worry about it, I've worked harder for less and been treated worse by lesser men than your brother" Said Alex.

"Alright but I still think the way my brother is treating you is wrong" Said Mary with a sigh. "The stew is ready now, could you go get Joshua? He'll be out behind the house" Said Mary as she took the stewing pot from the fireplace and began to pour the stew in the bowls.

"I'll go find him" Said Alex as he turned to leave.

After Alex brought Joshua back and everyone had eaten it was time for all to retire for the night. And as Alex was drifting off to sleep he couldn't help but realise that he was happier than he had been in a long time.

**End of Chapter 3.**

**Wow that chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I had envisioned, I hope you didn't find it to boring but if you did feel free to leave a review. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everybody and welcome back to another chapter of the Guardian I hope you enjoy it. I do not own the Pokémon franchise. **

**Chapter 4: A New beginning.**

Alex had been staying with Mary and her family for five days now doing the jobs Derrick would assign him without complaint despite them usually being specially designed to be exceptionally exhausting. Alex didn't mind the malice that Derrick treated him with he found the hard work to be a refreshing challenge and felt a strange sense of pride in completing them. This of course infuriated Derrick who was quickly running low on ideas to push Alex out. But this was a special day for Alex for he and the rest of the household had a day to Relax. Alex decided to use this opportunity to practice with his swords out behind the house. Alex was part way through his sword drills when Mary stepped outside and began to approach him.

"Hello Alex how are you?" Mary asked as she stood facing Alex who began to sheathe his swords when he noticed her approaching.

"I am well, how are you?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh I'm good" She replied happily. "I was just going to the lake to collect some leaves for tea and thought I would say hi" She said.

"Then I will accompany you, the lake isn't far from the forest after all" Said Alex.

"You don't have to do that for me" She said slightly embarrassed by his rather protective offer.

"No but I want to" He said with a smile.

"Ok if you insist" Mary said as she began to walk in the direction of the lake.

The pair of them walked to the lake idly chit chatting with one another about recent events. They had been walking for about an hour as the lake was a fair ways walk from the house.

"So where did you learn how to fight?" Asked Mary as they continued to walk.

"I was taught most of what I know from an old warrior in my village. He used to be famous in his day or so I had heard but he had decided to settle down and teach the youth in my village as he had no heirs to carry on his martial art" Said Alex.

"Was he a good teacher?" She asked.

"I haven't had any other teachers to compare him to but his training has saved my life on innumerable occasions" Said Alex. "Why do you want to know about my fighting anyways?" He asked quizzically.

"I was watching you train, I haven't seen any one fight that way before" She replied.

"And where have you seen people fight at all?" Alex asked curiously.

"A Lucario named Romulus teaches some of the men in the village how to fight in case we're ever attacked" She said.

"He doesn't teach the women?" Asked Alex.

"No he says women are too weak to make good fighters" Said Mary slightly irritated at the memory of Romulus' words.

"Ha my teacher once beat a student for saying something like that. And a month later a women who my teacher had been teaching beat the man again for making unwanted advances" Said Alex with a small chuckle at the memory.

"Your teacher actually accepted women as pupils?" Mary asked with an expression of shock on her face.

"Yes he believed that a person's race or gender was irrelevant and that true strength was not limited by the circumstances of ones birth but choices an individual makes" Answered Alex. "It was only after a student truly appreciated and understood this concept that he would train them in the advanced parts of his art. Unfortunately few could truly grasp this philosophy" He added.

"Was it really so difficult for people to accept that their life was in their hands?" Mary asked.

"Based on what you just said you understand the concepts better than most" Alex said. "Many people could not accept his teachings because it would mean accepting responsibility for all of one's actions even the mistakes" He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"That's too bad if people did accept the blame for their mistakes they may try harder to fix them" Mary said.

"Indeed" Is all Alex said in response.

The rest of the walk was rather quite but not awkwardly so. After another forty minutes Alex and Mary were at the lake. Mary set about gathering the leaves that she used to brew tea and Alex simply enjoyed the view of the lake.

Mary had almost finished gathering the leaves when a large Arbok sprung from the bushes that were concealing its form. Mary screamed in surprise and took a few quick steps backwards before tripping on a rock and twisting her ankle.

Alex heard Mary scream and quickly turned in her direction. When he saw the Arbok he unsheathed his swords and rushed towards it.

The Arbok was about to lunge at Mary who could not get up to run do to her ankle but was stopped when Alex brought his swords down on the beasts face drawing an X shape and making it recoil in pain.

The Arbok hissed at him and lunged to bite Alex but Alex dodged to the side and slashed at the beast. The Arbok dodged his attack and attempted to bite Alex again, Alex tried to dodge the attack but got bit in the thigh regardless.

Alex grunted in pain but managed to bring one of his blades down on the monster cutting a horizontal line straight through the Arbok's head fringe making it to let go of its hold on his leg. Before the Arbok could recover from its shock Alex drove his other sword through the beast directly where the body met the head severing its spinal cord and killing it.

The wound Alex had received was not terribly deep but the venom would surely kill him if it was not treated soon. Despite being well aware of the severity of his wound he was more worried about Mary than himself.

Alex walked to where Mary was laying. "Are you alright?" He asked worry quite apparent in his voice.

"I'm fine but you got bit she said" Tears starting to well in her eyes.

"Yes but at least you will be ok" He said with a certain resignation in his voice as he began to sit on the ground next to Mary.

"Don't talk like that!" She said as she started to cry. "Don't act as if your life doesn't mean anything!"

"It doesn't really matter know does it?" Alex asked rhetorically. "I'm just sorry that I didn't get to spend more time with you" He added solemnly.

"No I'm not going to let you die!" She yelled as she crawled towards him and began to pull his pants down.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex asked a little shocked at Mary's actions.

"I'm going to suck out the venom" She said as she finally got his pants of despite Alex's struggle to keep them on.

"Don't do that you could poison yourself in the process!" Alex said.

"You risked your life to save me. Please let me do the same" Mary said as she looked into Alex's eyes.

"Fine" Alex conceded after a short pause. "But be careful if you swallow the poison you could die" He added with concern in his voice.

"I will" Is all Mary said before she began to suck the venom out of his wound.

Alex found the whole situation extremely uncomfortable the wound was on the outer side of his thigh luckily but it was still a rather lewd place for someone to put their mouth in his opinion. After a few minutes Mary had removed all the venom from his leg and Alex had gotten water from the lake for her to rinse her mouth with just in case any venom was still in her mouth.

"Thank you Mary you've saved my life" Alex said as he sat by her and brought her into a hug.

"I couldn't let you die Alex" She said returning the hug. "And you saved me as well" She said.

The two simply sat there in each other's embrace for a time both feeling a strange and unknown sensation within themselves. Alex wondered if this was love he was feeling but he didn't say anything fearing that the feelings may not be mutual.

"We should probably go now if we want to be back before it gets dark" Alex said as he noticed that sun was already low in the sky.

"Ok" Mary said. Mary tried to stand but fell or rather she would have had Alex not caught her.

"Are you ok?" Alex asks as he held Mary up.

"I don't think I can walk" Mary said feeling slightly embarrassed by her fall.

"Hey don't worry about it" Alex said reassuringly before picking Mary up bridal style. Mary let out a surprised squeak at Alex's sudden action but quickly calmed down and settled into his arms as he carried her.

"I'm sorry I let you get hurt" Alex said sadly as he began to walk in the direction they had come from.

"Don't be sorry Alex it's not your fault" Mary said comfortingly.

"I should have scanned the area more carefully and I should have stayed closer to you" Alex said as if he hadn't heard her.

"Hey stop blaming yourself ok it's not your fault, besides you saved me" Mary said stopping Alex from continuing his rant.

"Still I'm sorry you got hurt" Alex said sorrowfully.

"It's ok" Marry said as she rested her head on Alex's chest.

The sun had almost set by the time they reached the village. Walking through the village they got a few strange looks regarding the way Alex was carrying Mary.

"Shit Marry what happened?" Derrick said franticly as he began to jog towards them from his usual position on the porch.

"It's ok Derrick I was attacked by an Arbok but Alex stopped it before it could hurt me" Marry said trying to calm her brother,

"But you're not walking is your leg hurt?" Derrick asked with concern.

"I think she rolled her ankle, she will be ok but she may not be able to walk very much for a few days" Alex said.

"Are you sure you're ok Marry?" Derrick asked.

"Yes I'm fine" Mary answered.

"Alright, I'll make dinner tonight ok you just lie down and relax" Derrick said still sounding slightly worried.

Alex took Mary up to her room and laid her down on her bead. "Can I get you anything?" Alex asked Marry.

"No I'm fine" She said as she began to settle into her bead.

"Alright I'll come and get you when dinner is ready" Alex said as he began to leave.

"Alex" She called to him before he could leave.

"Yes" Alex responded turning towards her.

"Thank you" Mary said with a smile.

"No, thank you Marry for everything" Alex said happily before leaving.

Alex walked downstairs and in to the dining room. Derrick could be seen in the kitchen adjacent to the dining room as he cooked the dinner. Derrick looked over and saw Alex.

"Hey Alex" Derrick said motioning for him to come over when Alex looked to him.

"Is there something you need?" Alex asked as he walked up to Derrick.

"No I… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for being such an ass towards you" Derrick said.

"Hey you were just worried about your family, it's alright" Alex said as he patted Derrick on the back.

"No it's not alright you did nothing but help us, and I repaid you by trying to get you to leave" He said. "I can't take back what I've done or said but I swear that I won't do it again" He said with conviction.

"Don't worry about it, its water under the bridge" Alex said.

"Thanks Alex" Derrick said as he returned to cooking.

Alex just nodded and walked away.

Elsewhere we see the slaver who had escaped from Alex when he saved Joshua being pushed along in a camp by two other slavers who had captured him after he disserted. He was brought into the leader's tent and forced to kneel in front of him. The leader was sitting on a chair in a darkened corner of the tent his form was shrouded in shadows so that all one could see of him was his intimidatingly large silhouette.

The leader motioned for the men who brought the deserter to leave. They promptly did so bowing as they exited the tent.

"So they've finally caught you" The leader said with a chuckle. "Do you know what they do to oath breakers where I come from" He asked.

The man simply shook his head, too afraid to actually speak.

"We put them in a hollow bronze statue of a bull and light a fire beneath it. The distorted screams of the men inside sound like the bellowing of a bull" Said the leader sounding as if he was remembering a pleasant memory.

"Please Reaver I swear I won't run again" The man pleaded fearfully.

"Silence coward!" Reaver said angrily. "I will ask you some questions then I will decided what will become of you" He said as began to drum his fingers on the arm of his chair.

"Why did you abandon your unit?" Reaver asked the man.

"This man he told us to set our prisoner free or he would kill us, we just laughed but when we didn't comply he attacked and killed all of them" The man said.

"You expect me to believe that one man was capable of beating all of your unit?" Reaver asked.

"I swear it's the truth, he just sliced them all apart with his dao swords" The man said.

The mention of Alex's dao swords seemed to interest Reaver as he sat up straighter in his chair when the man mentioned them "Two doa swords you say, what did this man look like?" He asked.

"He had a long black ponytail and green eyes" The man said.

Reaver's laugh started as a chuckle and steadily built up until he was howling madly in a psychotic fit of laughter. "And here I was thinking you had died hero" He said. "Oh well this just means I get the pleasure of finishing what I started" Reaver said to himself as he stood up from his chair and walked into the light revealing his dragon tattoo and his missing eye.

**End of Chapter 4.**

**Well there you go chapter four I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and follow the story if you haven't already.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again and welcome to chapter five of the Guardian. I would just like to apologize for how long this chapter took I had a few things I had to get done at school and I also suffered a small case of writers block. That being said I hope you enjoy this chapter. Once again I do not own the Pokémon franchise. **

**Chapter 5: Love and War**

It had been two days since Alex and Mary had survived the Arbok attack and things had been going well since then. The jobs that Derrick gave Alex were no longer as terribly backbreaking and the flow of insults that Derrick usually showered upon Alex were nowhere to be seen. Alex's job this day was a rather easy one, he was delivering crops from Derrick and Mary's farm to various people around the village in return he would be given other goods that Derrick and Mary didn't produce such as milk and eggs.

Alex had delivered to most of the people he was supposed to already and the cart he was pushing was beginning to get very light. Most treated him with a good dose suspicion but a few trusted him seeing that he wasn't out to bring harm to them.

Alex was currently approaching a rather big but decrepit house not far from the village square in order to conduct business with one of the people who Derrick had instructed him to deliver to. He approached the door and placed his cart off to the side, noticing the door had an elaborate brass knocker he took hold of it meaning to use it but it simply detached from its place on the door when he pulled it back.

Looking at the now useless knocker in his hands Alex shrugged and simply knocked with his hand instead. The sounds of the house's resident moving to answer the door could be heard from the door occasionally being drowned out by the sounds of objects being knocked off of shelves and crashing to the floor.

After a few minutes the door was opened by a paranoid looking Alakazam. "Who are you, did they send you?" Questioned the Alakazam his voice sounding very nervous.

"That depends who they are" Alex said for lack of a better response to this vague question.

"That's just what one of their spy's would say. Tell me what is your name and who do you work for?" The Alakazam asked as pulled a dagger he had been hiding behind himself and put it to Alex's neck.

Alex was shocked at this sudden and violent act but showed no outward sign of his surprise. "Calm down Sir, my name is Alex and Derrick sent me here to deliver some crops to you" Alex said while raising his hands into the universal sign of surrender.

"Derrick? It has been so long since I last spoke with him; how is he?" The Alakazam asked his voice suddenly becoming relaxed and friendly as he took the dagger away from Alex's neck.

"Uhh he's good" Alex said very confused by the Alakazams sudden change in behaviour.

"This is good to hear" Said the Alakazam as put the dagger he had been holding down on a nearby table. "Please come in" The Alakazam said politely as he moved aside and gestured for Alex to enter.

Alex walked in to the house not knowing what to expect next from this Alakazam.

"What is your name anyways?" Alex asked hoping to start a conversation and make things slightly less awkward.

"Oh how rude of me for not telling you" The Alakazam said. "My name is Leopold but everyone calls me Leo" Leo said with a smile as he grabbed Alex's hand and shook it.

Alex was having quite a difficult time understanding Leo due to how fast he spoke but was still managing to get the gist of it.

"I suppose Derrick wants more of the usual formula again I'll be right back with it" Leo said quickly zipping down to his basement.

Alex began to take a look around the living room he had been brought to by Leo. It was messy almost chaotically so with random papers and books filled with notes and formulas scattered on almost every counter or desktop there was seemingly without any sort of order or system to it whatsoever. Alex walked over to a wooden crate he saw in the corner and looked inside of it. The crate was filled with black ceramic spheres about the size of his fist. He picked one up and noticed by its weight and the sound it made when shook that it wasn't solid but seemed to be filled with a liquid of some sort.

While Alex was examining the orb Leo appeared coming out of the same door he had went through before only now he was carrying a crate filled with vials of some sort of clear liquid. "Oh I see you've found my latest invention; I call them grenades" Said Leo as walked up to Alex and put the crate he was carrying on the floor. "Watch this" Leo said as he took grenade from Alex and walked to a large open window. Alex watched as Leo threw the grenade a good distance away from the house. When the grenade landed on the ground it shattered and a twelve foot wide ball of fire sprang forth from it.

Alex was shocked speechless at this display and simply stared slack jawed at the now charred ground that the grenade had left behind.

Leo laughed and jumped with excitement when his grenade worked. "Damn that never gets old" He said as he turned to Alex with an almost insane looking grin on his face.

"Dare I ask what you invented these things for?" Questioned Alex fearing the possible reasons that he may be given.

"I need to be able to defend myself and my research in case they find me" Leo said as his clownish smile returned to being a less creepy one.

"And who are they" Alex asked skeptically.

"They're everywhere they control everything" Leo said as he looks from one side to another as if he was searching for someone who was hiding.

Alex sighed in annoyance as he realized that his line of questioning would get him nowhere. "Should I be worried that those will explode as I carry them" Alex asks pointing towards the crate of formulas that Leo had brought with him when he entered the room.

"No need to worry about these little potions" Leo said picking up one of the bottles in the crate. "These are just some formulas to help vegetables grow, I give these to Derrick and he gives me food as payment" He added as he put the bottle back in the crate. "Speaking of which what did he send you with?" Leo asked as he turned to Alex.

"There's a cart outside with some food in it" Said Alex. "Come on we'll discuss the price for your potions outside" He said as he began to walk to the door.

After a deal had been struck for the potions Alex was left with no more of the produce that Derrick had given to him for the purposes of bartering, so he put the crate of potions in his cart and began to push it in the direction of Derrick and Mary's home. Alex was pushing the cart through the town when he noticed Gwen walking towards him.

"Hello Alex, how are you today?" She asked as she walked beside him with a smile on her face.

"I am well, and what about you?" Said Alex happily.

"I'm good. I was just wondering if you would like to join me for tea." She asked.

Alex thought about the offer a moment and decided that it would be nice to spend some time with Gwen, he seldom got the chance to interact socially with people outside of Mary and her family mostly due to some lingering misgivings that the villagers still had of him. "That sounds quiet nice" Said Alex.

"Alright then come with me" Gwen said.

In a few minutes Alex and Gwen were seated in her house with a cup of tea for each of them on the table.

"So have you been enjoying your stay so far?" Gwen asked.

"Yes it has been very nice to have company for a change" Replied Alex between sips of his tea.

"How long had it been since you had company when you found Joshua?" She asked with a quizzical voice.

"About a year I suppose" He answered with a frown.

"I never did ask you why you were living in the woods did I?" Said Gwen.

"No you didn't" Alex said.

"You don't have to tell me I if you don't want to" Gwen said comfortingly.

"No you have a right to know" Alex said with a sigh. "I was living in the village I was born in, it wasn't much bigger than this one so we didn't have the money to hire guards, instead young men and women from the village would train under an old warrior so they could defend the village from bandits or other marauders." He said.

"And you were one of the warrior's pupils?' Gwen asked.

"Yes he taught me how to use various forms of weaponry as well as unarmed combat" Alex said. "The other pupils and I had managed to fend off attackers time and time again, but we got too comfortable too confident in our abilities." He said. "Then one night it all just fell apart, we were attacked by a raiding party four times our size, we fought as hard as we could but they were to organized and to experienced, one by one we fell until I was the only one standing" Alex said.

"How did you survive?" Asked Gwen sadness and concern thick in her voice.

"The leader of the group saw that I was a skilled fighter so he ordered the rest of the raiding party to sack the village while he fought me in single combat" Alex said. "He fought better than any ten of his men combined but I managed to survive until the cavalry from a nearby city came to assist us, he fled with the rest of his surviving warriors but the damage had been done, the village was beyond repair and the few villagers that were left simply moved on they had lost too much to start again." Alex said almost shaking from the memories of the attack.

"And you decided to live on your own" Gwen asked with sympathy in her voice.

"Yes I couldn't face people anymore, I felt like a failure and felt that a life of exile would be a fitting punishment for my weakness" Alex said now unable to look Gwen in the eyes.

"You don't still feel this way do you" Gwen asked sorrowfully.

"I don't know what to feel anymore, but I think I'm finally ready to start moving on" Alex said a small trace of hope filling him.

"I'm glad to hear that" Gwen said with a smile.

Alex and Gwen sat and drank their tea in silence for a time occasionally discussing small things like the weather or what jobs Alex had been doing over the course of his stay with Mary and her family.

"So you may be interested to hear that there is quite the rumour circulating about you and Mary" Gwen said with a chuckle.

"Oh and what would that be?" Questioned Alex.

"People are saying that you and Mary are an object" Gwen said with a wide grin.

Alex nearly chocked on hid tea when Gwen told him of the rumour. "Truly, why are people saying this?" Alex asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well you did walk through the village carrying her in your arms a few days ago" Gwen said in a very matter of fact tone.

"She had injured her ankle and couldn't walk!" Alex said almost defensively as his face grew increasingly red.

"Still she seemed to be quite comfortable with you" Teased Gwen.

Alex let out a load groan of annoyance and embarrassment.

"Oh relax, I'm sure the rumour will die off as soon as someone asks Mary about it" Gwen said reassuringly.

"I guess so" Alex said but he didn't sound convinced. "Well I better get going, I want to get the supplies I got back before it gets dark" Alex exclaimed as he stood up and began to walk to the door.

"Alright then, do tell Mary I say hello" Gwen said.

"I will" Said Alex as he closed the door behind him.

As Alex pushed the cart back to the house all he could think of was this rumour about him and Mary. It was mildly annoying that people would jump to conclusions like that but what was really bugging him was the part of him that wished it wasn't a rumour. Was it wrong for him to have feelings for Mary he wondered? After all they were from entirely different races. But the more he thought about it the less different their races seemed to him after all they were both sentient beings. Alex decided that he would have to find a moment of privacy to discuss this with Mary.

The sun was already low in the sky when Alex arrived back at the household. Alex gave Derrick the goods he had bartered for when he first saw him. Derrick expressed his thanks to Derrick and told him that dinner would soon be ready.

Alex entered the house and walked into the kitchen.

"Hello Alex" Marry said when she noticed he had entered the kitchen. She was standing over the stove cooking as per usual, she took the dinner off the stove and set it on the counter to cool before turning to Alex with a smile.

"How did your first attempts at bartering go today?" She asked.

"Good I think, your brother seems content with the goods I have brought back so I must have done something right" Said Alex. "Is your ankle feeling alright?" He asked.

"It's a little sore but I can walk on it easily enough" She said.

"Good just don't overdo it or it might swell back up" Alex said with concern.

"I'll be careful" She said. She couldn't help but be flattered by Alex's concern for her wellbeing.

Noticing that Joshua was nowhere to be seen and Derrick was still outside Alex decided that now would be the best time to talk to Mary about the rumour and more importantly how he felt about her.

"Mary I don't know if you are aware but their seems to be a rumour spreading within the village involving the two of us" Alex said somewhat awkwardly due to his embarrassment.

Mary blushed and looked away from Alex. "Y-yes I know a friend of mine came over today and asked if it was true" She said as she began to fiddle with her hands. "Who told you though?" She asked still unable to look at him.

"Gwen did, I stopped to have tea with her when I was making my way back and she told me of this rumour" Alex said. "But it's not the rumour itself that bothers me" He added.

"Oh t-then what is it that is bothering you?" Mary asked finally able to meet his gaze.

"What's really bothering me is the fact that it isn't true" Alex said as he took a step toward Mary.

"W-what do you mean?" Mary asked a bit embarrassed and a bit confused by Alex's words.

"Mary I don't think I've ever met someone like you before in my entire life, and I could spend the rest of my days searching and never find another like you" Said Alex as he gently placed his hand on Mary's face.

"Alex I" Mary started to say before Alex silenced her gently by placing a finger over her lips.

"I understand if you don't feel the same way but I have to tell you how I feel, Mary I think I've fallen in love with you" Alex said as he looked into her eyes.

There was silence for what felt like hours to Alex but was only a few seconds in reality. Then without a word of warning Mary kissed Alex passionately Alex quickly returning the gesture with equal passion, after a few moments they parted for air both of them gasping.

"I love you to" Is all Mary said but it was enough for Alex he could see from the look in her eyes that she meant it.

Elsewhere near the outskirts of the village small group of slavers led by Reaver look over the village.

"You're sure that this is the village that the prisoner came from" Reaver asked the deserter.

"Yes Reaver we captured the prisoner on the outskirts of this village" He said. "Does this mean that I will be allowed to live?" The man asked hoping that Reaver would be uncharacteristically merciful.

"You have done a good job of leading me here" Reaver said bolstering the man's hopes that he may be spared. "But desertion is a serious crime and I cannot let it go unpunished" Reaver added.

As if on cue two of Reaver's men grabbed the deserter to prevent him from escaping. The man kicked and struggled but the slavers would not relinquish their grip on him.

"Please show mercy!" Begged the man with terror and desperation in his voice.

"Oh but this is mercy my friend for as thanks for leading me to my enemy I will grant you a swift death" Reaver said with an evil smile as he drew a dagger from his belt.

The man cried and screamed for help before being silenced as Reaver slashed his neck deeply with the dagger causing the man's blood to spill so very frantically from the large gash in his throat. The man let out a few gurgling noises before finally going limp and cold.

Reaver turned to the village and began to laugh. "I'm coming for you hero and when I catch you I'm going to make you wish you had died that day" He spoke into the night with malice and joy at the prospect of revenge etched into his face.

**End of chapter 5.**

**Well I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review to tell me how I could improve.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone and welcome to the sixth chapter of the Guardian. I do not own the Pokémon franchise (shocker right?). **

**Chapter 6: A demon from the past. **

Alex awoke with a smile on his face, last night had been the first time in over a year that he was not tormented by the memories of his village burning. A big part of his newfound tranquility was due to Mary something about knowing that the one he loved had the same feelings filled Alex with an indescribable joy.

After a long talk the night before Alex and Mary had decided not to tell Derrick or Joshua about their relationship right away, Derrick had only just accepted Alex a few days prior and Mary thought that telling him about the relationship at this point may cause some of those negative feelings towards Alex resurface.

After stretching and dressing Alex made his way to the kitchen to get some breakfast and hopefully see Mary before anyone else got up.

As Alex entered the living room he could see Mary through the window she was standing outside and watching the sun rise.

Alex did a quick search with his eyes and saw that no one else was up so he decided to give Mary a little surprise. Alex slipped silently out the door and crept up behind Mary. When he was close enough Alex wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her into to hug. Mary let out a quick yelp of surprise but calmed immediately when she saw that it was Alex who had grabbed her.

"Good morning" Alex said whispering softly into Mary's ear.

"It is now that you're here" She said after turning around in his arms and kissing him.

That stood there together in silence as they watched the sun rise and bathe the horizon in a beautiful shade of orange.

"I should start cooking breakfast now. Derrick and Joshua will be up soon." Mary said as she separated from Alex's hug.

"You work too hard, let me cook breakfast today." Alex said with a smile.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Mary asked after a small laugh.

"I know a thing or two." He said with a smile.

"Alright then, just be sure you don't accidently poison us all." She joked.

Alex went to the kitchen and grabbed eight eggs, a block of cheese, and some ham. After almost an hour Alex had finished cooking and there were now four plates with ham and cheese omelets on the table.

Alex pulled out a chair for Mary to sit in.

"So what do you call these?" Mary asked as she sat down.

"Omelets." Said Alex as he took a seat beside Mary.

And then as if the mention of food had summoned them, Derrick and Joshua entered the dining room from the hallway that connected the bedrooms to the rest of the house.

"Something smells nice." Derrick said before taking a seat at the table. "Huh this is new what are they?" He asked when he saw the omelet.

"Just a little something my mother taught me how to cook" Alex said as he began to cut his omelet.

"You cooked these?" Joshua asked.

"Yes." Alex said.

Everyone began to eat and they were all quite surprised by how good Alex's cooking was.

"Wow Alex this is actually pretty good." Mary said.

"Thank you. Anytime you want a break from cooking just ask me." Alex said with a smile. "Anyways what's the plan for today?" Alex asked Derrick.

"Well there's not much work left so I was thinking that we could all go fishing." Derrick said with a smile.

"That sounds like it could be nice." Mary said.

"Yeah we haven't gone fishing in a while." Joshua added.

"Alright then I guess it's unanimous." Alex said.

"We'll have to go into the village to get some bait first." Derrick said as he finished off the last of his omelet.

"I'll go get the fishing poles." Joshua said excitedly as he practically jumped out of his seat and ran to the storage closet where the fishing poles where kept.

Everyone at the table chuckled at Joshua's enthusiasm and energy.

"I suppose I'll get my swords, after all it never hurts to be prepared." Alex said as he stood and gathered the now empty plates.

After stacking the plates Alex walked to his room to get his swords leaving Mary, and Derrick alone.

Despite being the one who had suggested it Mary was feeling slightly guilty about keeping her relationship with Alex a secret from her brother.

"Mary are you feeling ok?" Derrick asked with concern.

"Oh I'm fine, why do you ask?" Mary said as she struggled to keep her voice from betraying her nervousness.

"You looked troubled just now, as if you were worried about something." He said with a look of concern.

"Derrick ever since mother died you and Joshua have been all I had, and we've been through a lot together." Mary said very seriously. "I try to support you in all the decisions you make, and I need you to do the same for me." She added as she started to become a little choked up.

Derrick took Mary's hand in his and looked her in the eyes. "Mary I love and trust you and I promise that I will support you no matter what you choose." He said with loving dedication.

Mary took a deep breathe to calm herself. "Alex and I… we're in love." She said nervously.

There was an awkward silence for a few moment. "Are you sure that you love him?" Derrick asked.

"I've never been surer of anything in my life." Mary said with conviction.

Derrick inhaled deeply and let out a sigh. "I won't lie to you and say I wouldn't rather have you date a Pokémon but I'll respect your decision and try and support your relationship." Derrick said. "Just promise me that you'll be careful." He added.

"You don't need to worry about Alex, but if it makes you feel any better I'll be careful." Mary said.

"Alright." Derrick said. "Well I guess we should get ready hey." Derrick said after a few minutes.

"Yeah alright, I'll go pack some things for us to eat." Mary said before getting up and walking to the kitchen.

About twenty minutes later the entire family plus Alex were walking through the village towards a shop where they could trade for bait. It was a fairly nice day the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and there was a gentle breeze in the air.

Suddenly a scream could be heard coming from the direction of the village square followed by various shouts of confusion and panic. Alex handed his fishing pole to Derrick. "I'm going to go see what this panic is about." He said calmly but drew one of his swords just in case.

"Hey you're not the only one who wants to see what's going on we'll come to." Mary said.

"It could be dangerous." Alex said trying to dissuade Mary.

"Or it could be nothing." She said.

"Alright but stay a few steps behind me and keep your eyes open." Alex said as he began to walk in the direction of the village square.

When they reached the village square there was a large crowd gathered around the elevated platform that was used for public announcements. Alex couldn't see who was on the platform from his position but from the atmosphere of fear that the crowd seemed to exude he guessed that it wasn't someone who should be taken lightly.

Alex sheathed his sword as he walked through the crowd trying to get to a position where he could clearly see who it was on the platform.

That's when he heard his voice. "Calm yourselves vermin you are of no concern to me if you cooperate you won't be hurt, if you prove yourself exceptionally useful you may even be rewarded." Alex froze when he heard the man's voice, he remembered that voice as if it was only yesterday that he had heard it.

Finally managing to push and shove his way to the front of the crowd Alex saw his worst fear realized. There on the platform surrounded by his company of murderers and mad men stood the man who had taken everything from him, the man with a dragon tattoo and a single eye.

At the same time that Alex saw him Reaver saw Alex. Reaver grinned with psychotic glee as he locked eyes with Alex. "Ahh so there you are 'hero'." He said with a twist of mockery. "It figures that I would find a weakling like you living among the lower races." He said as he hopped off the platform and walked towards Alex.

Alex reached to draw his swords but before he could Reaper interrupted him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Reaver said as he motioned to one of his men who Alex had not yet noticed.

The man had Gwen restrained with a knife to her neck. Seeing this Alex took his hands away from his swords and settled for glaring daggers at Reaver.

Reaver chuckled to himself as he continued to approach Alex. "You know I was ecstatic when I learned that you had survived are last encounter." He said as he came to a stop in front of Alex. "It meant that I would have the pleasure of watching you die slowly with my boot on your throat." He said barely containing himself from laughing with a perverse joy.

"I hoped that you had died in some godforsaken place far from me." Alex said as he balled his fists so tightly that his knuckles went white.

"Now is that any way to the man who taught you the most important lesson in your pathetic excuse of a life." Reaver said.

"What lesson could you possibly have taught me?" Alex asked his voice cracking with barely contained rage.

"I taught you what you really are, despite all of your training and weapons you're just another sheep in the herd, another weakling to be put in his place by the strong." Reaver said with a smile.

"Was losing your eye a way of showing me your strength?" Alex asked mockingly.

Reaver's smile quickly turned into a look of rage, rage that he unleashed on Alex in the form of a powerful uppercut that left Alex on his back. "Watch your tongue worm unless you want me to tear it out." He spat with a furious tone of voice.

Suddenly there was an accurate and well-timed arrow strike that managed to take down several of Reaver's men including the one who had a knife to Gwen's neck.

Everyone including the eight remaining members of Reaver's personal guard looked around to find the archers who had killed the other men. Gwen used the chaos to slip away from the men and hide within the crowd.

"Show your selves you cowards!" Reaver yelled.

In response a single Gallade holding a bow in his hands and carrying a quiver of arrows jumped down from a nearby rooftop and several other archers stood up on various other roofs.

"I suggest you and your men leave this village before my men and I kill all of you." The Gallade said calmly but firmly.

Reaver laughed at the Gallade. "Your men don't have what it takes to kill all of us." He said.

"Maybe not but we have what it takes to kill most of you." The Gallade replied as took an arrow from his quiver, fit it onto his string, and drew back with incredible speed, his men quickly followed suit.

Reaver let out a growl of rage. "Fine we'll leave your village for now but in five days I'll return with my full party and if you don't hand over this dog!" Reaver said pointing towards Alex. "Well let's just say you won't like what happens next." He said regaining his twisted smile.

Reaver began to walk away and his men quickly followed him. As Reaver passed by Alex who was back on his feet he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in close so that his mouth was by Alex's ear. "Just you watch 'hero' these animals will sell you down the river before you can even blink." Reaver said before pushing Alex back and continuing to walk away.

After Reaver and his men were all out of sight there was an uproar of opinions on what should be done about the situation. Many people thought that it would be for the best if they just gave Alex to Reaver.

"Why the hell should we risk our necks for some human who we barely know?!" Yelled someone in the crowd.

"We should tie him up and give him to those slavers!" Added someone else.

"Would you be suggesting this if it was one of us?" Asked the Gallade who had lead the archers earlier.

"We have to focus on the survival of the community!" Yelled someone.

"And what good is survival if we have to sell our souls?!" Mary asked with anger in her voice.

"He's just a damn human like all the people who would see us in chains!" Yelled one of the people from before.

Alex walked on to the stage and called for silence, surprisingly almost everyone fell silent at his command. "I cannot ask you to risk your lives for me, when the slavers return I will go willingly." Alex said calmly before walking off the platform and towards Mary and Derrick's house.

Everyone was shocked speechless and Mary was struggling to hold back tears.

This silence lasted for a good seven minutes or so until it was finally broken by Gwen. "You should all be disgusted with your selves!" She yelled. "You're all so ready to allow a good man to through his life away simply because he's human!" She continued angrily. "How can you say that you're any better than the humans who disregard our lives as worthless just because we're not like them when you do the same thing to a man who is willing to die so you can continue living?!" She asked them.

"Gwen is right none of you would do this to any other Pokémon, even the worst of us would be treated better in this situation." Derrick said.

"But they'll attack us if we don't give him over to them." Someone said.

"We'll be attacked sooner or later and we'll have to take a stand and show them that we won't go quietly to our subjugation." Mary said. "We can either grow weak and complacent waiting for the day that we meet an enemy who we can't reason with, or we can stand up and show our enemy's that we cannot be scared into obedience and that we will make them suffer for their attempts at controlling us." She said with strength and conviction in her voice.

After Mary's speech many of the people within the crowd we're prepared to fight for their freedom and almost none of them were willing to allow Alex to sacrifice himself for their sake.

There was still much planning and preparation needed but the general consensus was that they would use the five days they had to prepare for Reaver's attack.

Mary was heading home to tell Alex what had occurred after he left. When she got home she saw him sitting cross-legged on the back lawn with his hands in a praying posture and his eyes closed.

"Alex." She said softly as she approached him.

Alex opened his eyes and looked at Mary. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you before now." He said. "I was meditating, hoping that I could come to know peace within myself before I faced that man again." Alex said as he stood and walked towards Mary.

"Alex you don't have to leave with that man comes, the people have decided to fight the slavers when they come back to take you." Mary said.

"Mary I can't ask you or anybody else to defend me from him, I had the chance to take that monster out of this world but I failed." Alex said remorsefully. "To ask someone to fix my mistakes at the potential cost of their lives would be immoral and cowardly of me." He added.

"Alex what do you mean?" Mary asked. "How is this slaver your responsibility?"

"He attacked my village and I wasn't strong enough to defend it from him and his men." Alex said. "I watched him burn and destroy everything I had come to know and love, and I can't bear to let him do the same to this village. And more importantly I can't stand the thought that you could be hurt because of me." He said with tears in his eyes and his right hand on her cheek.

"Alex." Mary said as she began to cry as well. "I can't let you do this to yourself, I love you and I won't let you just give up your life." She said passionately as she embraced him. "I know that you're afraid to lose me but I'm just as afraid to lose you." She said as she looked into his eyes.

"Mary I love you and I will protect you and this village even if I have to die to do so." Alex said with more passion and conviction then he even knew was possible.

"You won't have to die because you won't have to fight this battle on your own." Mary said before pulling Alex in for a deep and passionate kiss.

**End of chapter 6.**

**Wow this chapter turned out to be the longest I've written so far (and I was worried it might turn out to short). But anyways I hope you enjoyed it. **


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own the Pokémon franchise.

**Chapter 7: Preparations.**

**Day: 1.**

It was the day after Reaver's appearance in the village and everyone in the village was doing something to try and prepare for the coming attack. Traps that were usually used for hunting had been modified to work on humans and were placed in the areas that Reaver and his men would most likely pass through to enter the village, watch towers were being constructed to give archers a good vantage point to shoot from, and anybody who knew anything about fighting including Alex was trying to teach what they could to others.

Alex was taking a break from teaching the villagers about sword combat to pursue an idea he had that could give the villagers an advantage in the battle. He had been teaching some of the villagers a phoenix style form to try and correct some of their posturing issues when he remembered Leo's grenades. Alex figured that even an untrained fighter could do his or her fair share of damage with a weapon like that so he decided that he would convince Leo to supply the villagers with some.

Alex knocked on the door to Leo's decrepit house and waited for Leo to answer. After a few minutes Leo opened the door, he was armed with a loaded crossbow and had the same paranoid look he had when Alex had first met him. As Leo realised who it was he relaxed and lowered the crossbow. "Hello again Alex please do come in." Leo said happily as he stepped aside and motioned for Alex to enter.

"Thank you." Alex said before entering. "Leo I have a request to make of you." Alex said as he followed Leo to his living room.

"Oh and what would that be?" Leo questioned as he sat down on a worn leather chair.

"Those grenades you make… They could be a game changer in the upcoming battle." Alex said as he paced back and forth.

Leo fell silent and had a look that suggested he was thinking deeply. "Alright I'll give donate of my grenades for the cause, just try not to burn the whole village down ok?" Leo said.

"Alright I'll make sure everybody keeps their throws away from the village." Alex said.

Alex left Leo's house soon after. Leo had promised to deliver upwards of ten thousand grenades, Alex wasn't sure whether he should be happy or scared that Leo had that many to spare but he knew that they would be a great help in the battle.

As Alex walked towards the village square to continue training anyone who was interested he noticed a male Lucario approaching him.

"Hello is there something I can help you with?" Alex asked as he turned to the Lucario.

"You're the human who has been teaching some of the villagers how to fight right?" Asked the Lucario.

"Yes I have some experience in fighting so I decided that I should share what I've learned to try and prepare the people for the attack." Alex said.

"My name is Romulus I've been teaching the people here how to fight for over a decade." The Lucario said.

"Yes I remember being told about you." Alex replied. "I heard that you won't teach women is that true?" Alex asked.

"Yes I don't teach women and neither should you." Romulus said.

"And why's that?" Alex asked becoming slightly agitated by Romulus.

"A women shouldn't be on the battlefield they're too weak!" Romulus yelled angrily.

"I've met women just as strong if not stronger than me." Alex replied simply.

"Then you have no right teaching anyone how to fight!" Romulus said.

"I don't have time to spend on the weak-minded." Is all Alex said as turned away and began to walk to the village square.

When Alex turned his back Romulus lashed out with a strong flurry of punches but Alex heard the sound of the Lucario's feet moving and felt the disturbance in the air so he quickly sidestepped to the right and launched a twisting round house kick that connected with the Lucario's stomach and caused him to bend forward in pain. Alex brought his elbow down on the exposed back of Romulus' head causing the Lucario to fall face first into the ground.

Alex stepped back but stayed in his fighting stance as the Lucario slowly stood up to his feet.

Romulus looked at Alex with fury and growled. The enraged Lucario charged at Alex with a lunging punch. Alex stepped forward diagonally dodging the punch but used one of his arms to clothesline the Lucario while kicking one of his legs from behind causing the Lucario to fall hard on his back.

"Stop this foolish attack before you get hurt!" Alex said to the downed Lucario.

"Fuck you human!" Romulus yelled as jumped to his feet and threw a kick at Alex's thigh. Alex raised his leg in such a way that the Lucario's kick was deflected and then countered by delivering a straight kick to Romulus' chest.

Romulus stumbled back in pain and tried to get back into a fighting stance but before he could Alex used a low kick to knock him off his feet and on to his back.

Before Romulus could get up Alex Placed a foot on the Lucario's chest and pinned him there.

After a few minutes of struggling to try and get Alex's foot off of him Romulus was exhausted. "Fine you win now get off of me." Romulus said angrily.

Alex took his foot off the Lucario's chest and pulled him up to his feet. "If you attack me again it will be worse." Alex warned as he walked away from Romulus.

Talking and fighting with Romulus had left a bad taste in Alex's mouth, he hoped that at the very least the thick skulled Lucario had learned not to attack him again but he would keep his guard up just in case.

Alex approached the group he had been teaching. Among them was Mary, Derrick, and Joshua. Mary had been the one to suggest Alex teach people how to fight, Alex thought it was a good idea so he agreed on the condition that Mary and her family came and learned what they could though Alex hoped that Mary and Joshua wouldn't have to fight he knew it was for the best if they at least knew how to.

Alex was surprised at how quickly Mary seemed to be learning his teachings. She showed a lot of potential especially with the Jian straight sword that she seemed to gravitate towards. The weapons that they were practicing with were wooden replicas but they worked well enough as training tools.

Mary noticed that Alex had returned so she walked up to him and hugged him. "I'm glad you're back." She said as she separated from the hug. "Where did you go anyways?" She asked.

"I went to see Leo, he has something's I think could help us with the battle." Alex said.

"Well that's good. So what will you be teaching us now?" Mary asked.

"Well everyone's stance is coming along nicely so I suppose I should go over some basic attack and defence drills." Alex said.

"Alex… Can I talk to you privately for a moment?" Mary asked her voice becoming melancholy and serious.

Alex noticed the change in her voice and saw the worry in her eyes. "Alright." Alex replied. They walked out of earshot from the other villagers and stood behind a house. "Is something wrong?" Alex asked worriedly.

Mary sighed heavily and leaned against the wall of the house. "I'm worried Alex." She said. "We aren't exactly the strongest or most skilled warriors half of us can barely hold a sword for god's sake. And it's not like we have a lot of time to get better at this stuff." Marry said with a hint of frustration in her voice. "I just want to know what you think are chances honestly are."

"I think are chances are better than you might expect." Alex said. "These people may not as strong or experienced as our enemies but they have a reason to fight. This is their home and from what I've seen every single one of them is willing to fight for it. The slavers we are fighting are only motivated by the promise of money if we show them that we aren't the easy prey they expect they'll move on and look for an easier fight." He said.

"But what about Reaver, their leader, he isn't coming for money he's coming because he wants to kill you." Mary said.

"His men follow him out of greed and fear but they don't respect him. If push comes to shove they'll abandon him." Alex said.

"But what if they don't?" Mary asked worriedly.

"Then we'll just have to fight them all off." Alex said jokingly.

Mary chuckled softly. "If only it was as easy as you make it all sound." She said. "Alex I'm afraid, afraid of dying or losing you or Joshua or Derrick." Mary said as tears started to well in her eyes.

Alex wrapped his arms around Mary and began to rub her back in soft soothing motions. "I know you're afraid, there would have to be something wrong with you to not be." Alex said. "I'm afraid to, I don't want to lose you. But we have to stay strong otherwise we're beaten before we even start, don't give up hope yet my love because the night is always darkest before the dawn."

After a few moments of sharing their embrace in relative privacy Alex and Mary returned to the group and Alex began to teach his students some basic attack and defence drills. This carried on until late during the night when everyone parted ways to return to their houses.

As Alex was laying in his bed trying to sleep he heard a faint knock on his door. He opened the door to find Mary standing outside of it.

"Mary is something wrong?" Alex asked as he put a hand on his lovers shoulder.

"I've been having a hard time trying to get to sleep." Mary said. "I was wondering if you would mind if I slept with you tonight."

Alex was somewhat surprised by this but he was more than willing to share his bed with Mary. He invited Mary into his room and as they lay together under the sheets within each other's embrace they both felt a newfound sense of peace as if their body's physical closeness had brought their souls closer to unity. As they slowly drifted off to sleep Alex heard Mary whisper "I love you" into his ear. To this he responded by kissing her on the lips and saying "And I love you and always will".

**End of chapter 7 **

I know that you may be wondering where the sex scene is but don't worry it is coming, but I think that I will release it separately so anyone who wants to read the story but is uncomfortable with a sex scene still can and anyone who is interested in the sex scene can read it separately. Anyways thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it's a bit short.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello readers welcome to chapter 8 of The Guardian. A quick update before we begin the lemon chapter I have talked about will be released separately from the main story so anybody who is uncomfortable with sex scenes doesn't have to read it, also there isn't anything vital to the story within that chapter so if you don't read it you won't be lost.**

**Disclaimer I do not own the Pokémon franchise. **

**Chapter 8: **

**Day 4.**

The day of the attack was approaching quickly and tension were very high. Alex was training his students as had become routine for both students and teacher.

Not but a few days ago Alex had gotten a new student one who he was surprised was willing to learn. The day after Alex had beaten him Romulus came to Alex's class. Alex had initially thought that he had come for another fight but was quite surprised when he learned that the stubborn Lucario wished to be a student.

Alex new that in order for Romulus to have any chance of learning anything he had to strip away the last of his arrogance, so the first thing he had Romulus do was spar with Mary. Mary was exceptionally fast learner and had become the best student in Alex's class, so when Romulus attempted to use his brute force style of fighting he found himself outclassed by technique and agility and was quickly defeated.

With his arrogance now fully eroded Alex believed that he was ready to learn, and learn he did Romulus quickly picked up the techniques and forms that Alex was teaching, he learned so well that Mary and him had become friendly Rivals of sorts competing to see who was best. Alex was glad for their completion because he knew that it would push both of them to new heights and may even inspire some of the other students to train harder.

Alex had been in the middle of running his students through some drills when he was approached by Gwen.

Alex turned to Gwen as she approached him. "Hello Gwen is there something you need of me?" He asked.

"Yes actually, your presence would be greatly appreciated at a meeting that some of the villagers and myself are holding to discuss the defence of our village." She said.

"Hmm, alright I will go to this meeting." Alex said. He then turned to his class and spoke. "Mary, Romulus you're in charge of the class until I return." He said loud enough that the entire class could hear him.

Mary and Romulus both bowed respectfully to Alex who returned the gesture with a bow of his own.

Gwen proceeded to lead Alex to her house where the meeting was almost ready to begin. Inside of Gwen's house there were several people sitting around a table, among them was the Gallade archer who had shot the man who was holding Gwen hostage, Nelson the Machoke lumber jack, Leo the Alakazam, and several others who Alex had not met before. Gwen and Alex took their seats at the table.

"Now that we are all present we can begin." Gwen spoke with a level of calm authority that Alex had only seen in his teacher. "The first order of business is the barricades and archers towers, Nelson what can you tell us?"

"The barricades and towers will be complete before nightfall, the barricades aren't perfect but they're the best we can do with the time and materials we have." Nelson said.

"I suppose that it will have to do, Leo have you been able to provide the grenades?" Gwen asked.

"Yes I have distributed ten thousand of my grenades among the village." Said Leo.

"Very good, Daniel how is our supply of weapons?" Gwen asked as she turned her head to face Daniel a male Blaziken with a lazy eye and a small chip missing from his beak.

"Not well at all there is simply no way for me to produce all of the weapons required in time." Daniel said with an audible level of irritation.

The Blaziken's words seemed to set off a chain reaction of worried murmuring among the group. It seemed for a few moments that they had been beaten before they had started but this notion was laid to rest by the Gallade.

"I may have a solution to our problem." The Gallade said silencing everyone instantly.

"What might that be Jason?" Gwen asked the Gallade.

"Some of my hunting party has been tracking the location of our enemy and we have found their main camp." Jason explained. "They have a large surplus of high quality weapons, if a team of six or so were to sneak into their camp tonight we could make off with at least seventy to eighty weapons, if we add these weapons to the ones that Daniel has already made we should have more than enough to arm everyone."

"It's a risky move." Daniel said somewhat skeptically.

"It's less risky than sending unarmed soldiers into battle." Alex retorted.

"Do you have men up to the task?" Gwen questioned.

"I have four men plus myself who are willing and capable of this operation." Said Jason.

"You'll need a sixth man, count me in." Alex said.

"Are you trained in stealth?" Jason asked Alex.

"I'm capable." Alex responded simply.

"Alright then meet me at the village's northern most entrance in an hour." Jason said as he stood and made his way out of Gwen's house.

The meeting was adjourned soon after Jason had left. Alex made his way back to his class to inform them of his intentions to join Jason's mission. When he returned to his class they were in the middle of a short break to regain some of their energy but when they saw him they all lined up in an orderly fashion and bowed to Alex, Alex returned the bow and had them relax.

"As you all know tomorrow Reaver will come to try and burn this village and enslave its population." Alex said as he paced back and forth in front of his students. "But I believe with all my heart that all of you are stronger than he believes you are, stronger than you think you are." He said. "And I have the utmost confidence in all of you, that's why that even though tonight I may die in an attempt to gain for all of you the weapons you will need I am not afraid because I know that you are strong and you will survive even if I die."

The entire class was shocked, both by the news of Alex's mission and by his speech but Alex did not stay long enough to answer questions. Immediately after he was done talking Alex began to walk to the meeting place that Jason had told him of. He was had not gotten far when he heard Mary call his name from behind him. He stopped and turned around to see that Mary was running towards him.

"Alex what the hell is going on you come back and tell us that you're going on a mission tonight that could get you killed and then you just walk away?" She said angrily.

Alex was shocked at the anger in Mary's voice not because he did not understand her reasons for being angry but because this was the first time that he could remember seeing her raise her voice at anyone. "Please Mary this is the only way, there isn't enough weapons for everyone but if I succeed in this mission we can take the weapons from our enemy and arm ourselves." He said.

"That may be so but you should have talked to me about this first, do you have any idea how worried you made me when you said you could die?" She asked him with both anger and concern in her voice.

Alex in truth had not thought of what effect this may have had on Mary before now and as realized this he could not help but feel that he had betrayed her trust in him and that thought filled him with guilt. "Mary I am truly sorry." He said. "I had not stopped to think about my actions and how they might make you feel, but it was never my intention to hurt or scare you, I simply wanted to do what was best for both you and the village."

Mary sighed deeply and ran a hand down the back of her neck. "I know you're only trying to do what's right but you can't just pull things like that out of nowhere, it scares me to think you might die because I love you Alex."

Alex wrapped his arms around Mary and brought her in closer before kissing her long and passionately upon the lips, a kiss that despite her anger with him Mary could not help but return. "I love you to Mary and I'm sorry, can you please forgive my foolish behaviour?"

Mary smiled and returned Alex's hug. "I forgive you." She said. "You're lucky that I love so much." She said with a soft chuckle.

"I truly am." Alex said.

"Alex I know you won't like this idea but I'm not going to take no for an answer, I'm coming with you on this little suicide mission you've gotten yourself into." Mary said firmly.

"Mary this mission will be dangerous and could end horribly." Alex said hoping against all hope that he could convince her to stay.

"If it was me in your place do you think you could stand to let me go without you?" She asked him.

Alex saw that there would be no talking Mary out of this so he sighed and relented. "Alright just promise me you'll stay close to me and be careful."

"I will, but only if you promise to do the same." Mary said.

"I will." Alex said.

After that was settled they met up with Jason and after a short but fierce discussion Alex convinced Jason that Mary would be of help hand and not a hindrance to their task he agreed to let her join in the mission.

It was now late in the night and Alex, Mary, Jason, and four of Jason's men were crouched in the bushes looking at the enemy's camp.

Jason turned to look at all of them and began to whisper the plan he had devised to get to the armourer's tent and get the weapons without raising any alarms within the camp. "The armourer's tent is in the north east quarter of the camp next to the mess tent, this could be a problem because many of the bandits are currently eating and drinking in there as we speak." Jason said quietly. "But I have an idea, Nathan do you have one of those grenades Leo made. He asked.

"I do, why?" Questioned a Greninja that Alex assumed must be Nathan.

"Because we need a distraction, I want you to throw that thing at sleeping quarters in the south west quarter of the camp." Jason explained. "That should get the bandits in the mess tent to investigate and try to extinguish the fire. While they're distracted with that we can slip into the armourer's tent and get the weapons."

"Alright I'll burn the tents." Nathan said.

"When you're in position to throw the grenade wait a few minutes so we can get into position near the Armourer's tent." Jason said before signaling Nathan to continue.

As Nathan went to create their distraction the rest of the small team moved closer to the armourer's tent but stayed far enough away that they wouldn't be spotted. After a few minutes the a fire could be seen blazing in the opposite corner of the camp and just as planned the bandits who were eating in the mess tent quickly cleared out of the area to try and stop the fire from consuming their whole camp.

When Jason could see no bandits in the area he gave the symbol to advance on the armorer's tent. One of Jason's men peaked through the tents entrance to confirm it was empty when he flashed the all clear symbol everyone hurried into the tent and began to fill the large bags they had brought with the various weapons that could be found on the table.

"Hurry people we don't know how much time we have." Jason scolded as he filled his bag with swords, axes, and various other forms of weapons.

The bags were all as full as they could be and everyone was getting ready to make their escape when one of the bandits entered through the tents flap. His face turned from confusion to alarm in the blink of an eye but just before he could call out to his companions a sword was driven through his stomach by Mary.

As the man fell to the ground dead and Mary removed the blade from his stomach with shaky hands and a look of shock on her face another bandit entered the tent and unfortunately for our would be thieves he did not hesitate to yell a loud warning to the other bandits.

Jason took a knife from a nearby table and threw it at the bandit, the blade embedded itself deep in the man's neck but it was too late the other bandits had already been alerted.

"Run!" Alex yelled, a piece of advice that was headed by all present in the tent.

The team of six Pokémon plus one human ran as quickly as was possible with the heavy bags of weapons on their backs. Alex drew one of the swords on his back and struck down a bandit who tried to get in their way.

In the distance Alex could hear the voice that had haunted his dreams for so very long screaming out in rage. "Run hero, for tomorrow I will descend upon the nest of rats you have made your home and burn down it down to ashes, and when everyone you have grown to care about have been reduced to corpses I will be there to grant you the death you will wish for!" Reaver screamed.

After running for what felt like miles the group arrived safely at village's entrance, they had lost their pursuers long ago but they dared not stop until they were home.

After a few moments of catching their breath Jason turned to them and said "Good job people we not only managed to survive but with the weapons we have now we can arm the entire village."

Soon everyone departed back to their houses for they knew tomorrow they would all have to fight for their lives and the lives of the people they love.

**End of chapter eight.**

**Well there's not much left now the lemon chapter, the final battle, an epilogue and that will be it for this story. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello readers this is the lemon chapter I talked about it I decided that it would be for the best if just put it in the main story as I think I actually achieved some meaningful character development but don't worry I'll put a warning before the sex actually starts and another to show it has ended (thanks go out to Sega Nesquik for suggesting that). **

**Disclaimer I do not own the Pokémon franchise.**

**Chapter 9.**

Mary and Alex entered their room, they were both exhausted from the night's trials. Alex practically fell face first on to the bed and let out a deep sigh, the adrenaline that had imbued his legs with the strength to run nearly a mile while being chased by bandits had left his body feeling as heavy as iron and the stress of knowing that tomorrow he or worse Mary could be killed filled his mind, making sleep seem an impossible dream.

Mary was no better off, despite her best efforts to block it out the image of the bandits face as she drove a blade through his torso would not leave her mind, the horror of knowing that she had taken the life of another thinking, feeling being even a bad one made her feel sick to her stomach, but the worst part of it was the fact that she knew that some dark and animalistic part of herself had enjoyed the act, had taken pleasure in the sight of life leaving the man's eyes and was overjoyed at the sight of his blood draining from the hole she had left in his stomach.

"You're thinking about the man you killed aren't you?" Alex asked rhetorically. He had seen the look in others and was sure that his face had the same appearance after he first killed a man.

"I-I can't get his face out of my head." She told him her voice filled with fear. "But a horrible part of me was… happy when I did it."

Alex stood and took a gentle hold of one of Mary's hands with both of his own. "What you're feeling is normal, there's a dark part in all of us that thrives on the suffering of others. As bad as it is it can help you stay alive in a battle you just need to control it and never forget that a life is a precious thing that shouldn't be taken without good reason."

"And what of the guilt?" Mary asked.

"It never leaves not completely at least but you have to remember that you only did what you had to in order to stay alive." Alex said comfortingly as dropped Mary's hand and held her in a loving embrace.

Mary cried for a time and all Alex could do was hold her tightly and whisper soft and loving nothings to her.

**(Warning sex scene begins here.)**

When Mary was finished releasing her pent up anxiety and sorrow she thanked Alex and kissed him lovingly, Alex could feel Mary's tongue pressing against his lips seeking permission to enter his mouth. He opened his mouth and as their tongues fought for dominance they were both transported to a realm of ecstasy beyond their wildest dreams.

As the kiss continued the lovers began to explore each other's bodies with their hands, searching for ways to increase the others pleasure. As this continued Alex could feel his manhood stiffen in excitement and Mary could feel her entrance grow moist with desire.

Things grew steadily more intense from there and before Alex even realised it Mary had removed his pants.

Alex took a firm but gentle grip of Mary's shoulder's and stopped her. "Mary are you sure this is what you want?" He asked her.

Mary put her right hand on Alex's cheek and kissed him briefly put lovingly. "More sure than I've been about anything in my life." she said.

With that Alex let go of her shoulders and began to remove his shirt, Mary in the meantime began to remove her robes. In a matter of seconds they were both naked in front of each other.

Alex took the time to gaze at his love from top to bottom, the fur underneath her robe was short and soft and to the untrained eye could be mistaken for skin, her breasts were larger than most but not so big that they seemed disproportional to the rest of her body, she had an hourglass figure with long and slender legs that thickened at the thighs, and the lips of her sex were a bright pink in contrast to the black fur of her legs. Alex had always found her beautiful but know that he could see all of her he found her absolutely stunning.

Mary walked forward, slowly closing the gap between Alex and herself. She ran a hand gently down his chest taking her time to trace the numerous scars on his body as if they were pieces of art.

"Do my scars disgust you?" Alex asked worried that she may find his appearance unsavory.

"No, I've always found something attractive about a man with scars." She said as seductive smile began to spread across her face.

As Mary continued to run her hands over her lovers Body Alex began to do the same, sliding his hands up and down her back, he stepped in closer to kiss her and press their bodies together.

Soon they found themselves on the bed. Alex was running his hand up Mary's leg and quickly brought it to the lips of her pussy which he proceeded to rub eliciting small moans of enjoyment from Mary. Alex began to pump two of his fingers in an out of her vagina as he stimulated her clitoris with his thumb slowly at first but gradually picking up speed. Mary's moans began to increase in volume until she was practically screaming with pleasure. Mary began to feel a tightness build up in her body when suddenly she let out her loudest scream of pleasure yet and her back arched as she experienced her first orgasm with another person.

Alex smiled feeling a sense of accomplishment in making his lover cum. Before Alex could do or say anything about Mary had flipped him over and was now sitting on his chest. "Now it's my turn." She whispered seductively into his ear.

Mary positioned her sex over Alex's erect member using one hand to guide it in while the other was on Alex's chest for balance. She slowly lowered herself onto Alex's cock until his tip was poking her virginal barrier. Having been warned of this Mary braced herself before plunging down on Alex's length breaking her hymen and causing her a great deal of pain. Tears welled in her eyes but Alex kissed her passionately on the lips taking her mind off of the pain. In time the pain Mary had felt left and as she began to slide up and down his shaft they both began to feel an incredible pleasure build within themselves. The juices from Mary's earlier orgasm were acting as a natural lubricant for their love making allowing Alex's penis to slide in and out of her tight passageway as she moved up and down with her hands on his chest and his on her hips.

Every time Mary would move down Alex would thrust up increasing the pleasure felt by both of them. As the speed and intensity of their lovemaking increased so did their pleasure. They both began to feel the pressure build up in their bodies until it reached a crescendo and they both screamed out in pleasure as Alex shot his seed into Mar's womb and Mary's juices spilled out onto Alex's genitals as she experienced yet another orgasm.

**(Sex scene over)**

Mary collapsed onto Alex's chest in exhaustion. They were both breathing very heavily now but it seemed as if their hearts had begun to beat in rhythm with one another.

"So was I as good as a human woman?" Mary asked half-jokingly.

"I don't know you were my first." He said before kissing her on the forehead.

"Well then I'm glad that we were each other's first lovers." She said with a smile.

"How do you feel about being my only?" Alex asked happily.

"Nothing would please me more." Mary answered softly.

And with that they both began to drift off into sleep despite their struggles.

**End of chapter 9.**

**Alright everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a little difficult to write what with this being my first story and all but I think it came out alright. So thank you for reading and please leave a review to tell me what you think of this chapter. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello and welcome to the tenth and final full chapter of The Guardian. I hope you enjoy the finale of my story I tried my best to make the action as dramatic as possible.**

**Disclaimer I do not own the Pokémon franchise**

**Chapter 10.**

Upon the northern outskirts of the village stood Alex and Mary. With them was every person in the village capable of fighting. They were all armed with assorted swords, spears, axes, hammers, and bows. A select few were lucky enough to have some low-grade armour that might be able to stop a blade if they got lucky. But other than those few they would all have to rely on skill to avoid taking a blow.

Derrick approached Mary and Alex at their position near the front of the makeshift army of Pokémon. "I don't suppose I can convince you to stay farther back where it's safer can I sister." He said as he absentmindedly tried to adjust the katana at his hip to a more comfortable position.

"Despite my best efforts to deter her she insisted on staying on the front line with me." Alex said with a small frown.

"That's right." Mary said with mock defiance. "No matter how hard you try you won't be getting rid of me." She said trying to lighten the mood if even for a few seconds.

Alex and Derrick laughed ever so slightly at Mary's joking behaviour. They all knew that there was a good chance that even if they did win one or all of them might not live to see it.

"Well if I can't get you to stay where it's safer I guess I'll just have to stay here and save the pair of you." Derrick said smiling at the absurdity of his own jest.

"We'd surely be lost without you." Alex said with a soft laugh.

"I'm just glad we could convince Joshua to stay out of the fight." Mary said.

Joshua had been quite determined to fight for his home despite both his older brother and sister's attempts at persuading him to stay where it would be safe. The only one capable of convincing him not to fight had been Alex and he had only done so by telling him that someone needed to stay and guard the house and that he was the only one capable of such a heroic task.

Minutes felt like hours as the large group of defenders stood there in near total silence. All present were very nervous, for most of them this would be the first time they had ever really fought someone outside of the occasional fist fight over petty squabbles.

"When the time comes for us to truly fight try and stay close to me, and don't hesitate to strike because they won't." Alex said with a deadly seriousness.

"I won't." Mary said plainly.

Before long a large force of bandits could be seen approaching. Their numbers were overwhelming but Jason had devised a two-step plan to reduce their numbers and cause some chaos amongst Reaver's ranks. A loud horn was blown the signal for the archers to begin firing volleys of arrows into the ranks of the approaching bandits. Arrows flew from every bow and descended upon the bandits as locust to crops killing men beyond counting, and the arrows did not stop until the second horn was blown.

On cue everyone who had some of Leo's grenades began to throw them at the enemy lines. The great explosions of fire not only killed many of the bandits but even caused some of the less brave among them to turn tail and run, as afraid as they were of Reaver the fear of being burned alive was worse.

When they were finally close enough for the true fight to begin their numbers were not even half of what they had been, Alex figure that the enemy were in range of a hundred and fifty to a hundred and eighty. They on the other hand were a force of over two hundred and forty fighters. It was not the greatest numerical advantage in the history of warfare but it was enough to make a difference and give the defenders some much needed hope.

The third horn sounded and as it did the charge began both sides sprinting towards one another with weapons drawn and raised, the battle cries of both sides could be heard far into the distance.

Alex jumped into the fray slicing a man's neck open as he fell. He rolled forward as he landed and sprung to his feet using his swords to draw an upward X shape on the man in front of him.

Mary used her Jian to deflect a man's thrusting attack and then used an upward diagonal strike cut the man from his right hip to his left shoulder before reversing her momentum and slicing into the man's neck nearly decapitating him. She removed the blade just in time to block a downward blow from another bandit. She kicked the man in his groin and as he doubled over in pain she stepped to the side and cut into the back of his neck severing his spinal cord.

Derrick delivered a large horizontal cut with his katana, the man he was facing blocked it but Derrick stepped into him pinning both blades to his opponent's body he delivered a head butt to the man's nose breaking it and causing the man to flinch long enough for Derrick to step back and stab the man through his heart.

Alex stabbed a man through the back and then turned him using his body to catch another bandit's attack, he then kicked the man free of his sword the body falling on the other man and pinning him to the ground long enough for Alex to finish him off.

Derrick blocked a diagonal slash from one of the bandits. He maneuvered his sword so it was on top and slid his katana down to the hilt of the man's blade pinning it to the ground. Derrick delivered a powerful kick to the man's wrist breaking it and causing the man to drop his sword on the ground. Derrick then delivered an upwards diagonal strike killing the man.

Mary was now surrounded by a ring of four attackers who were all circling her. One rushed in wildly his sword held above his head in both of his hands. Mary sidestepped the attack but used a foot to trip the man. As he tried to get up Mary stabbed him through his left lung causing him to drown in his own blood. "Who's next?!" She asked fiercely.

The battle raged on continuously for hours with both sides taking loses. Alex, Mary, and Derrick had been doing well in the battle so far but they were beginning to tire and they had all received a few minor wounds.

As Derrick fought with two men in front of him he did not notice Reaver advancing upon him from behind. Alex turned to see Reaver making his way to Derrick, he tried to shout his warning to Derrick but he was too late.

Reaver used his hook swords to hook Derrick by the shoulders and pull him onto his back. Derrick tried to move away and get up but Reaver placed a heavy boot upon his neck and used one of his hook swords to disarm Derrick. Derrick struggled with all his might to remove Reaver's boot from his throat but the man was simply too strong for him. A loud crack could be heard and Derrick's body went completely limp.

Alex was half way to Reaver when he heard Mary let out a scream of rage as she rushed at the man. Mary launched a quick succession of strikes aimed at Reaver who managed to dodge or deflect all of them before he kicked her in the stomach causing her to stumble backwards. Reaver tried to capitalize on this opening but Mary recovered quickly and dodged his attack while scoring a decent cut across his torso.

Alex was now running hoping that he could get to Mary in time to assist her but he was slowed down as various members of Reaver's raiding party tried to block his path.

Mary was now on the defensive blocking and dodging Reaver's furious assault. He came at her with lightning fast strikes that hurt the wrist to block and were near impossible to predict. Eventually Reaver managed to hook Mary's sword and disarm her. He dropped his other sword and grabbed Mary by the neck lifting her off the ground choking her.

"Stop!" Alex cried as he came to a stop no more ten paces from Reaver.

"So you care about this one do you hero?" Reaver asked mockingly as he looked at Alex, his one eye gleaming with sadistic joy. "Then prove it drop your weapons and I won't break her neck like the other animal." He said as he motioned to Derrick's body.

Despite his rage Alex did as Reaver had bid him and threw his Dao swords on the ground far enough away that Reaver wouldn't think he was pulling some kind of trick.

Reaver threw Mary to the ground and walked towards Alex as she struggled to contain her coughing and regain her breath.

Reaver laughed psychotically as he approached Alex. "You know I could simply kill you now while you are unarmed." He stated as he inspected his sword. "But that would be too fast, and I want to take my time and Make you suffer." He said as threw his other sword away and took a fighting stance.

Alex took a fighting stance of his own and for a moment it was as if all was silent, but this did not last as Reaver launched a powerful kick at Alex's head. Alex dodged diagonally and tried to throw a straight kick at his enemy's ribs but before his kick could connect Reaver caught it with one hand and punched Alex in chest.

Thanks to of his years of training Alex managed to stay on his feet but he was pushed a few feet back. Reaver ran forward and jumped attempting to land a flying knee to Alex's chin but Alex stepped ever so slightly to the side and Managed to grab Reaver while he was in the air and slam him into the ground.

Reaver managed to roll out of the way of Alex's shoe as it was brought down in a stomping motion that would have connected with Reaver's head.

Reaver kicked Alex in the knee giving him enough time to get to his feet. The two warriors began to circle each other looking for an opening to throw their next attacks.

Alex rushed forward and kicked for Reaver's front ankle hoping to break it and cripple his opponent. Reaver raised his leg before Alex's kick could connect and used it to deliver a swift straight kick to Alex's solar plexus forcing him back and momentarily knocking the wind out of him.

Alex managed to recover in time to block a powerful right hook. He retaliated by delivering a powerful uppercut to Reaver's ribs causing him to drop his guard long enough for Alex to elbow him in the side of the head and knee him in the stomach.

Reaver shot forward with a yell of rage and tried to perform a wrestling style Takedown on Alex. Despite Reaver's weight advantage Alex managed to stay rooted and threw the man off of him.

Reaver landed on all fours. Alex dashed towards his downed enemy hoping to deliver a swift kick to his head and finish this fight. But before he could Reaver shot up and threw dirt into Alex's eyes blinding him temporarily and opening him up for a powerful kick to the ribs that brought him to his knees. Reaver proceeded to knee Alex in head repeatedly.

Alex fell onto his back and found that he couldn't get up because Reaver's foot was pining him down. "Once I'm done with you I'm going to find that little whore of a fox you seem to have taken a liking to and let my men have their way with her." He said maliciously.

"Not likely." A voice said from behind Reaver. But before he could turn around a sword slashed at the back of his legs hamstringing him and making him fall off of Alex.

Alex rose to his feet and saw that it was none other than Mary who had saved him.

"Are you okay Alex?" She asked worriedly.

A grunt of pain could be heard and both Alex and Mary turned to see Reaver trying to crawl away. "I will be." Alex said coldly.

Reaver had crawled his way to where one of his swords lay but before he could pick it up it was kicked out of his reach by Alex. Reaver tried to stand but could only get as far as sitting on his knees.

"You think this proves anything hero." Reaver asked with laugh. "Do you think this makes you stronger than me? Well you're wrong. You'll always be a pathetic dog."

"Who's stronger is a topic up for debate. But the fact remains that you have been bested." Alex said with a tone of finality. "And the reason you lost is quite simple really."

"And what's that?" Reaver asked with a sickening chuckle.

"You fought for greed and to prove that you were strong, we fought to defend our homes' and our loved ones'. That is why you lost, because you faced an enemy who stood for something other than themselves." Alex said as he stepped behind Reaver.

"Burn in hell hero when I recover I'll…" Reaver was unable to continue his rant because before he could say another word Alex snapped his neck.

Mary walked up to Alex and held him in an embrace. "It's all over now." She said comfortingly. And as Alex looked around he realized that she was right.

The last of Reaver's forces were retreating and all throughout the allied ranks there were shouts of joy. They had protected their homes.

But at what cost?

**A day later.**

Alex, Mary, and Joshua stood side by side in respectful and sorrowful silence.

They were at the commemoration and funeral that was being held to remember those who had died in the battle. Among the listed casualties was Nelson, a few of Alex's students, and of course Derrick.

Alex could not help but feel guilty for Derrick's death even though he knew that there had been nothing he could have done to save him.

The group approached the still opened casket that held Derrick's body. He paid his respects and put Derrick's Katana beside his body. "May you find peace friend." Alex whispered softly before he moved on to let others pay their respects.

It was hard for Alex to see Mary and Joshua in such a state of sadness but he could do nothing to take away their pain. All he could do was be there as a shoulder to cry on.

Despite the hardships they had faced and the hardships that losing a loved one would bring, Alex knew that they would not only survive but in time they would heal because Joshua had Mary and Mary had Alex, but Alex he felt that he was truly the lucky one for he had Mary.

**End of chapter 10.**

I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story I'm very grateful to all of you. This may be the end of the conflict in the story but there will be an epilogue chapter to show you how things turn out for everyone. Once again thank you for reading my story I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	11. Epilogue

**Hi again this is just the epilogue to The Guardian. It won't be very long but I felt like it might add something to the story so here it is. P.s Sorry this took so long my computer was having some problems and it took me awhile to fix them.**

**Disclaimer I do not own the Pokémon franchise.**

**Five years after the battle.**

The day was warm and sunny with a gentle breeze. Alex was at the lake sitting near the water's edge with a contented smile upon his lips as he thought about how much things had changed over the last three years.

After Derrick's death Alex had to take over the family farm. It had been hard at first but with help from Mary, Joshua, and many of the other villagers Alex managed to learn his way around a field almost as well as he knew his way around a blade. On top of running the farm Alex continued to teach any and all who were interested in learning his martial art style.

But Alex had not been the only one to do well for himself. The success of Leo's grenades in the battle had made him something of a celebrity and people would now often barter with him for his crop growth formulas. The tactical advice that Jason had provided for the battle had made him a highly respected leader, so when the time came for the people to elect a leader he won with a landslide majority. Jason had tried to convince Alex to be his right hand man but Alex insisted that he would be lost with a job like that.

But perhaps the most miraculous thing to come of the battle was the reputation and growth of the village itself. After the battle word had managed to spread far and wide about a place where Pokémon and humans could live as equals without fear of slavers or bandits. Before long the village had become a safe haven for escaped slaves and a home for Pokémon and humans who wished to see a world without prejudice or judgement based on the circumstances of one's birth. With the increase in population came a new age of prosperity. The village was three times its original size and was almost large enough to be called a town. New people brought new skills and the arts flourished within the village. And things were only looking up as a school had opened to teach the villagers how to read and write.

Alex was brought out of his thoughts as Joshua approached him. Alex turned his head to face Joshua. Joshua was still a Braxien but he was much taller than when he and Alex had first met

"You seem to be in quite high spirits." Joshua said with a smile as he sat down beside Alex

"I suppose I am." Alex mused aloud. "Is Mary coming?" He asked Joshua.

"Yeah she was walking here with me but she had to stop because of her cramps. She told me to continue on my way but I'm sure that she'll be here soon." He said.

"She's been having those again has she?" Alex asked with a small frown.

"Yeah but the doctor said it was nothing to worry about." Joshua said.

"I know but I can't help but be concerned." Alex said. "What if something happens to her or...?" Alex said before he was cut off by Joshua.

"Here she comes now shush before you make her worried as well." Joshua said.

Mary approached the pair of them as she supported her bulging belly in her hands. That's right she was now pregnant with Alex's child.

"It's quite a beautiful day isn't it?" Mary asked rhetorically as she sat down between Alex and Joshua.

"Even better now that you're here." Alex said as he leaned in and gave Mary a quick kiss on the lips.

Joshua made a gaging noise. "Hey I'd like to keep my lunch." He said with a smirk.

"Shut your mouth." Marry said jokingly as she gave Joshua a playful punch on the shoulder.

The group shared a laugh over their childish behaviour.

They sat there by the lake for a few hours discussing the latest happenings within the village. The sun was beginning to set when Joshua stood up and told Alex and Mary that he would be heading back to their house. Alex and Mary decided to stay at the lake a little while longer.

Mary was sitting on Alex's lap watching the stars while Alex held her.

"Have I ever told you how grateful I am that I met you?" Alex asked Mary.

"You have, but it wouldn't hurt to remind me." She said with a small smile.

Alex chuckled softly. "If I hadn't met you I don't think I would have ever been able to pull myself together. I love you Mary." He said

"I love you too Alex, and don't you ever forget it." Mary said before turning around in Alex's arms and giving him a passionate kiss upon his lips.

"I never will."

**The End.**

**Hi everyone sorry again for how long this took. My computer crashed and it took me awhile to get it running again. But anyways thank you again for reading my story I really appreciate it. I have a plan for another story set in the same world as the Guardian but it would follow new characters (please let me know if this would interest any of you) but that will have to wait for a while because my exams are coming up around the corner and I need to focus on studying. Until next goodbye and god bless.**


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